Aljamain Sterling won the match against Brian Ortega in a biased manner, but it turns out that disaster is approaching in the five-round co-main event.
Following his unanimous decision victory, in which he wiped out all the judges’ scorecards, Sterling revealed that he suffered a serious elbow injury that he actually panicked about giving up the possibility of a comeback to Ortega. While he came in with a hard work and victory, Sterling admitted that he was a bit scared of what would happen following the sequence, but thankfully he was able to maintain his wisdom about him before turning his eyes to his grappling to maintain control in the fight.
“That last elbow I landed in round four, I couldn’t even raise my arm to protect myself,” Sterling revealed at UFC Shanghai’s postwar show. “When he came after me, this was like a nightmare I’m living now.
“I couldn’t do anything except the circle and hopefully he made a mistake and he did so and I allowed him to carry him on his back and take him down.”
Sterling admitted he had dealt with some issues before fighting Saturday, but an elbow injury definitely happened in that fourth round.
“This certainly happened in the fight,” Sterling said of his elbow injury. “It came out right in that fifth round.”
Despite the elbow issues plagued him, Sterling pitched the shutout, showing some strong and impressive skills throughout the fight.
The matchup, originally scheduled at featherweight, became a catchweight match after Ortega struggled to settle at 146 pounds for a non-title fight. The result was a fight at 153 pounds, but Sterling didn’t allow Ortega’s amputation issues, giving him the false confidence to head into the fight.
“He was in that position before dying on scale and then he comes out and has a great performance,” Sterling said. “‘The Korean Zombie’ (Chang Sung Jung) was one of the performances he looked like a master class boxer, and he finally knocked him out with the elbow on his back.
“I knew there was only one reason he wanted it to be five rounds. That was to take me in the later rounds because he showed it to fade a bit in the past. But I also got (135 pounds) (135 pounds).
He showed off wrestling and grappling in the moment, but Sterling won the mostly foot fight.
“I was happy to show off my impressive stuff,” Sterling said. “The guys think I can’t box, they don’t think I can’t kick. They think my blow is perfect (jewels). I want to take as little damage as possible, so I fight unorthodox.
“I’m here to win. I’m here. I’m here to make it look easy. If that’s what I don’t think I can attack, step in there with me and see what happens.”
After his victory, Sterling sought an opportunity for a title fight with UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovsky.
The New York native has not lost hope, especially as Sterling doesn’t seem to have been given a Wish, especially after his previous outings being defeated by Movsar Evloev.
In fact, Sterling pitched himself as the perfect alternative to Lerone Murphy, who appears to be the most likely candidate to win the next shot in Volkanovsky’s belt after delivering a catastrophic knockout to finish Aaron Pico at UFC 319.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if (Volkanovski) fought Lerone next,” Sterling said. “It was a great fight for him. I think Lerown won it in terms of his performance, but if the UFC wants to throw my hat, I wouldn’t say no if they gave me the opportunity. They did it for a lot of people in the past.
“But with that being said, we are both two old dogs. I’m 36, Volkanovski’s 36. That’s two old UNCs chase it.
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